Thanks to the expansion of the College Football Playoff to a 12-team format, the Cricket Celebration Bowl, which crowns the Black College Football National Champion, has been moved.
The annual clash between MEAC and SWAC champions in Atlanta will now be played on Dec. 14 instead of Dec. 21.
The Celebration Bowl, which kicks off at 12 p.m. ET that day, will share the national spotlight with the Camellia Bowl, set for 9 p.m. ET that night, and the Army-Navy game, which will be played at 3 p.m.
That did not sit well with Dan LeBatard Show co-host Stugotz, who ranted on Monday about the Army-Navy game now having to share a Saturday with the Celebration Bowl and the Camellia Bowl.
“College football does not care about our military. They don’t care about our troops,” Stugotz said during Monday’s YouTube broadcast. “This game has been an isolated game, Army-Navy, and those two schools, the troops, they deserve to have a weekend that is all about them.”
“They took this isolated game, this beautiful game…you know what they did? Now you get the Camellia Bowl, and you get the Celebration Bowl,” Stugotz continued. “That is a disgrace, and I’ll tell you why. Go ahead – name any team who has played in the last 10 of any of those bowls. The answer is you can’t. I guarantee you can tell me every year who’s playing in the Army-Navy game.”
Billy Gill, a producer on the show, went on to say in a tongue-in-cheek way, “Whoever’s in charge of scheduling should be charged with treason. It’s a slap in the face of America and of these young cadets who are doing their darndest to protect our country and play the best football they can.”
The Celebration Bowl began in 2015 to determine the best NCAA Division I HBCU football team, pairing the Southwestern Athletic Conference winner and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion together in Atlanta, Georgia, first at the Georgia Dome, then at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Bowl Season director Nick Carparelli explained the reasons for the change.
“Obviously, the expanded College Football Playoff is going to add another level of excitement to our postseason,” Carparelli said.
“With the opening-round games being played on that Saturday that had traditionally been reserved for the first day of bowl season, we were forced to move some games to the week prior to that, notably two games on Dec. 14, which were scheduled around the Army-Navy game.”
He added, “It was very important to us that we protected that time slot while providing a full day of college football, which I think our fans will enjoy.”
